Nicolo Melli after defeating Germany: 'I'm proud being the captain of this team' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

After a 17-year break, Italy played a game in the Olympic basketball tournament and earned an important victory over Germany. Meo Sacchetti, the coach of the Italian NT, didn't hide his satisfaction after the game: "Today I had another confirmation that the personality of this team is not common at all. We might even lose some games along the way but I'm sure that we'll always fight until the very end."

Player of the Game EFF 19 Simone Fontecchio Points 20 Accuracy 7-13 Rebounds 4 Assists 2

"Today's game against Germany was very strange. In the first quarter, we didn't do a good job defensively and they were lethal from the 3-point line. After that first quarter, we were able to come back, but they escaped again with their shooting. Now we enjoy this win and then we'll think about the game against Australia," said Sacchetti.

Nicolo Melli once again expressed his pride in being the captain of this group: "I'm really proud of being the captain of this team. They asked me what it feels like to win a game in the Olympic Games in this role, well...it's an amazing feeling, especially considering how we got this win. After the first half, in the locker room, coach Sacchetti told us that if they continued to shoot like the first half, the only thing that we could have done was shaking our hands at the end. Now we go back to get some rest and from tomorrow we'll start preparing for the game against Australia."

Simone Fontecchio was the top scorer on the team with 20 points. "The beginning of the game was really hard. It wasn't easy to answer to the kind of performance that they had at the start of the game, but we remained close until the end. There's not much to say: we showed a lot of character and strength as a group. This group is really special," said Italy's leading scorer after the game.

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